Turbo is the shorter and more popular name for a turbocharger. A turbocharger is made of two main parts: a turbine, and a compressor. How it works is that exhaust gases come into the turbocharger through the turbine inlet, which forces the turbine wheel to rotate. As this spins, it increases the pressure of the air and pushes it through the air intake of the engine.

The pistons use a combination of air and fuel each stroke which, put simply, make the car go. The turbocharger forces more air into each stroke, increasing the amount of pressure in the pistons combustion chamber, therefore increasing the output of the engine.

Turbochargers range in value from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. One thing to keep in mind is that it is not a matter of just buying a turbocharger and installing it; there are other parts which are required to make the turbocharger run smoothly and cause no damage to the engine. These parts include blow-off valves, wastegates and boost controllers.